Door controller



May 6, 1952 T. B. RAMsEY ETAL 2,595,291

DOOR CONTROLLER Filed Jan. 50, 1947 v 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 JNVENToRs, fao/:ms 5 ,esmffy izan/v .f ey

I Y NMa-b May 6, 1952 Filed Jan. 50, 1947 E El T. B. RAMSEY ET AL DOOR CONTROLLER 2 SI-IEETS--SHEET 2 INVENTORJ. 7740/17/75 5t ,P4/)455V Patented May 6, 1952 Thomas B. Ramsey and Eldon S. Gray, Dayton, Ohio Application January 30, 1947, Serial No. 725,178

1 Claim. (Cl. 318-275) (Granted under the y.act of March 3, v1883, as amended April 30, 1928;.370 0. G. 757) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the. Government for governmental purposes without payment to us of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to a door controller especially adapted to the control of large single or double doors. Such doors, of the sliding or rolling type,u are used extensively in hangers, warehouses, factories and the like.

Up to the present, no door control has existed, we believe, which would permit a gap in the fixed conductors to be left between the doors of a two-door installation. Nor has it been possible to vstop almost instantly the advance of heavy doors by the closing of a low voltage-lowamperage circuit, brought about by a light pressure on the rubber-buffered leading edges thereof. l One object of the invention is to provide a door control which may be built with a gap between theconductor. trolleys.y Such a gap is of great value for example in airplane hangers so that airplanes having high-standing rudder assemblies can pass through the doorway.

Another object is to provide a door control which will stop the door almost instantly when the control circuit is closed and the power circuit is broken.

Another object is to provide a door control in which the conductors are protected frommechanical strain and in which no power wiring` is attached to the doors.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a double hanger, door and its control according to my inventionA A portion of the left hand door is broken away;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail of Fig. 1 showing a portion of both doors and the arrangement of trolleys and conductors on one of the doors;

Fig. 3 is a cross section of a door takenon Fig. 2 alongthe line 3--3 thereof;

Fig. 4 is a cross section of the leading edges of the doors showing the sensitive switch mechanism. The section is taken at any point along the height of the doors; and

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of vthe electric circuit employed showingV also some schematic mechanical details of trolley arrangement and motor braking.

Referring to Fig. l, I0 is a doorway which is closed by the multiple rolling doors II and H1 of which sections IIa, IIb, Ilc, IId and Ile and Hal, IIb1, IIc1, Ildi and Iiel are successively disposed toward the meeting leading edges of the doors. The meeting place is approximately in the middle of the doorway I0. The actual drive of the doors is not shown since it is no part of our invention. While we prefer thatv the doors II be driven by the means shown and described in co-pending application Serial No. 568,909 iiled December 9, 1944, now Patent No.- 2,425,016, by Edgar R. Weaver, other drivesmay be substituted. Among those suitable are those described in Patent No. 1,960,860 to E. F.' Allen. The kind of doors suitable for such drives .are those which arrange themselves behind each other when the door is fully open.

Also shown in Fig. 1 is a gap I3 over the meeting place of the doors, this gap being created by the discontinuity of an overhead' trolley duct which contains conductors I4 and I4a. Its function has been mentioned. Attached to the leading edges of sections vI Ie and IIe;` are conductors E5' and Ilia respectively, which are better shown in Fig. 2. The conductors I5 and I5a are slackly supported from chains Iii-and I6a for the purpose of protecting the conductors from 'heavy mechanical strain. L' 1 In order to obviate' the necessity for conductors which would be long enough to allow full traverse of the doors II and IIT, two rolling trolleys I'I and Ila are provided as supports. They run in trolley ducts I8 and I8a, in which there are mounted two wire conductors I4 and Ida (see Figs. 3 and 5).

The purpose of the conductors I4 and I4a and i5 and I5a is to connect a relay circuit 20 (Fig. 5) with sensitive switches 2| and 2Ia located in the leading edges of the doors I I and IIa respectively. These switches are shown in section in Fig. 4 and diagrammatically in Fig. 5. It is to be understood that the left hand part of Fig. 5, i. e. all along the left part gap between the doors, corresponds to the right hand side of the doors, when double doors are used. Such a construction is the preferred form of the invention.

No novelty is claimed for the specific form of sensitive switch employed. Fig. 4 shows it, however, so that a clear continuous idea of the structure and operation of our control may be conveyed. In that figure, 22 is a sheet rubber, easily compressible buffer attached to the leading edge of door section IIe. 22a is its companion attached to door section I Ie1. Just below the rubber buiers there are arcuate spring-brass switch members 23 and 23a.

These are connected to the limbs of conductors I5 and Ilial respectively, the other limbs being connected to conductive bars 24 and 24a which are mounted on insulating strips 25 and 25a. It is evident then that compression of buiiers 22 and 22a, switch members 23 and 23a to an extent that electrical contact is made with bars 24 and 24a will close the sensitive switches.

Upon closure of the sensitive switches 2| and 2| a, circuit 20 is energized from a battery 26 or other source of lowY voltage current. A relay 21 of the spring-pressed type is then energized to break a power circuit 28 in which there is in` eluded the door driving motor 29. The latter is provided with an automatic electromagnetic brake 30, the circuit 3| for which includes a battery 32v which is under control of the relay 21. Therefore when sensitive switches 2| 4and 2 la are open, the power supply 28 may be applied, but when they are closed, the electromagnetic brake 30 is applied to the motor 29, thus stopping the doors immediately. It is to be noted that closing o1" the power circuit 28 by the' relay21 does not setl the doors in motion; a manually controlled switch (not shown) is provided for that purpose.

As the doors roll; it is evident that the trolley carriagesy I7 and Het will be pulled along the trolley conductors, Wand 14a by the sections ile and Hei. of the doors by means of the chains I6 and` 16a respectively. Since the pull will take' place in opposite directions when the doors are opened; and closed, aswingable bracket 33 is pro videdzto insure that" the conductors have enough slack'to-aceommodatethe change in the direction of theA movement. The action of the .bracket during swinging isV shown in dotted line in Fig. 2, the. conductor' being: shown in its most extended position.- Since` the conductor does not have to belong: enough to` reach across the entire door, it is: consequently not long enough to dragon the ground,` which would damage its insulation. The' minimum. length: of conductor is that which will extend.. across half the gap I3 when. the doors are closed. without any undue,` tension on` the condoctor itself or upon the supporting chain It or 16ay thereof..

The invention claimed is:

electric. circuit. assembly: comprising a pair of conductors, a source of low voltage current for energizing said conductors, a switch having at least two separable contact members movable along said conductors, one of said contacts being electrically connected to one of said conductors and the. other of said contacts being electrically connected to said other conductor, a relay having an electromagnet and a pair of contacts actuated thereby, said elemtromagnet being included in the circuit defined by said pair of conductors and saidl separable contacts, a drive motor having an energizing circuit including said contacts of said relay. a brake solenoid having an energizing circuit controlled by said contacts of said relay, the

' brake solenoid. being a component of an electromagnetic brake and adapted to brake said drive motor when said relay operates to de-energize said. driveA motor;

THOMAS B. RAMSEY. ELDON S. GRAY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the iile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 704,398 Sundh July 8, 1902 851,891 Layman Apr. 30, 1907 1,022,001 Price Apr. 2, 1912 1,041,642 Lindquist Oct. 15, 1912 11,396,757 Hynes Nov. 15, 1921'. 1,496,154Y Forman June' 3, 1924 1,705,406 Hynes et al Mar. l2, 1929 1,735,153 Eouton Nov. 12, 1929 1,745,990 Goldman Feb. 4, 1930 1,793,716 Parvin Feb. 24, 1931 1,932,198 Talen Oct.. 24, 1933 1,942,253 Mattingly et al Jan. 2, 1934 1,952,681 Peele Mar. 27, 1934 2,425,312 Gower Aug. 12, 1947 

